Trials of Ivy

It had been about a month since Ivy encountered those two colts. After she collected her things, she limped to a cave and did her best to hide the entrance. She remained there for a week or so to allow her leg to heal. As soon as it had, she left the cave and continued to head south.

While hiding in a bush one day, a few miles north of Canterlot, she heard a couple of Royal Guards talking. One was a Unicorn with a gray coat, the other was a Pegasus with a light blue coat. Both of their manes were covered by their helmets.

“Hey, do you remember that colt who got bit last month?” The first one said.

“Yeah, didn’t he say it was a little Changeling who bit him?”

“Yes, and then the newby, Pommel, said he found that filly, I think that might have been the Changeling.”

The second Guard paused. “You sure? He said he didn’t notice anything odd about the filly, other than she was alone.”

“Yeah, I mean think about it. Both of those colts said they found, then chased a tiny Changeling, and one of them got bit after his friend got rough with it. Then Pommel finds a filly returning to a campsite by herself right after, with a limp no less.”

“He should’ve just taken her with him to make sure she was safe, whether she wanted to or not.”

“Yeah,” he chuckled, “I bet you one hundred bits that that filly was a Changeling.”

Ivy starts to get nervous. She tries to get out of the bush without making a sound. However, the bush shakes and rustles a bit, causing the Guards to turn their attention away from their conversation, and towards her. Ivy stops moving completely, hoping that they will just write it off.

“You...you don’t think that Changeling is still in the area, do you?” The Pegasus Guard said.

“It might be, I mean Pommel did say it was very small, and hurt. So it couldn’t have gone too far.” They started to move towards the bush. “It’s probably just a squirrel or something, but we should still check it out.”

Ivy shot out of the bush like a bat out of Tartarus. Before the Guards noticed that it was a Changeling, she was already gone. They followed once it clicked, but she was too far away.

“Damn, that little thing is fast,” the Unicorn Guard said, out of breath from several minutes of sprinting. “Can you see it from up there?”

“Negative,” the Pegasus Guard shouted back down from the sky, “it was pretty scared, the fear probably carried it. It must be halfway to Canterlot by now. We should report this to the Captn’.”

Ivy, still running full speed, looked back and didn’t see the Guards. She slowed down to a stop and dropped to the ground behind a bush to rest for a while.

“I t-think I lost them,” she whispered to herself. “Do you s-see them J-Jade?” Ivy tossed her doll up a little ways in the air then caught her when she fell back down. “No? O-Okay.”

After laying on the ground for a bit, Ivy picked herself up and continued south. The sun started to set, and she saw lights in the distance. Ivy began to make her way there, and saw a large City, that was partly sticking out of the side of a mountain. Ivy could almost see the Love Energy emanating from the city. She started to sneak towards the walls. She noticed Guards were patrolling, but her hunger was getting the best of her, so she ignored her fear and continued.

“I o-only have two vials of L-Liquid Love left. I b-better save them,” she whispered to herself as she cautiously approached.

She noticed the Guards in the white and gold were switching with the Guards in dark armor with bat-like wings. She used this to her advantage, and found her way into a storm drain in the wall while they were talking. The bars were rusted pretty bad so she managed to wiggle them apart enough to squeeze through. She found herself just under the city streets, in the storm drains and sewers. Ivy could feel love all around her, even though she was under the stone streets and not many ponies were out at this late hour. She used a technique that Rose taught her to feed on the love that wasn’t directed at anypony. It wasn’t enough to fill her, but it was enough to stay alive.

“I think I can survive here Jade,” Ivy said with a smile. “M-Maybe we should set up c-camp down here.”

Ivy looked around for a while. She couldn’t find anything she could use to make a bed, which was surprising to her because Rose told her that most cities have a lot of homeless ponies, so it should be easy to find stuff like old blankets or strips of clothing to make bedding out of. So, Ivy just emptied out her bag and used it as a pillow. She fell asleep quickly, despite how uncomfortable the cold stone floor was.

A few more weeks passed. Ivy had ventured up to the streets a few times to get some water and other needs. She stole a bunch of blankets, but used a burnt stick and a piece of scrap paper or other litter she could write on, to leave a note saying she was sorry each time. The notes were in Changeling, so not many ponies in the city could even read it.

At one point, a middle aged stallion caught her trying to take a blanket. She was transformed so he didn’t know she was a Changeling. He grabbed her and took her into his home. He tried to get rough with her, so she bit him on the neck, using her venom to temporarily paralyze him. She stuck her head out of his window and screamed before she ran away.

Rumors spread pretty quickly about who bit him, ponies started saying that there was a vampire filly running around. However, the citizens weren't too worried about it, because the stallion she bit was a criminal who was pretty high on the wanted list, so they figured the filly would only try and feed on bad guys. The Royal Guard, however, started to look for her.

One day, Ivy was under a storm drain near the castle. She overheard a Guard talking to a Unicorn stallion in purple armor.

“Captain Shining Armor, I have a report,” the Guard stated with a salute. “Our scouts have found a campsite in the sewers near the first housing district. It would appear that our little ‘vampire’ has been staying there.”

“I see, what did they find?” Shining replied.

“Mostly standard camping equipment and some toys. However, we found several strange vials. Most of them were empty, but two of them had a pink fluid in them. The lab report says it’s love energy, but liquified.”

“Changelings...” Shining said as he placed his hoof on his chin. “Is this what that mare warned us about?”

“Sir?”

“A while back, a strange mare approached the castle and told us that the Queen of the Changelings was planning an attack. However, it seems like this Changeling is a foal.”

“Yes, according to our information this one is very young, but oddly resourceful for its age. Several of the toys looked like they were hoof made and a bed made from all those blankets that have been stolen.”

“Hmm, tell the scout team that if they find this little Changeling not to harm it. I want to question it myself.”

“Yes sir!” The Guard ran off.

“Oh no!” Ivy shouted after she realised it was her campsite they were talking about. “Jade is s-still there!”

Shining heard the shout and went to investigate. Breaking apart the iron bars of the storm drain, dropped down into it to find the small Changeling fleeing down the walkway. He gave chase.

He caught up to the filly quickly, and used his magic to catch her and lift her off the ground.

“Gotcha!” he yelled in triumph. “Now I’m gonna take you back to the base and ask you a few questions.”

Ivy kicked and screamed, begging for him to let her go so she could get her doll. After about thirty minutes of this, Shining caved.

“If I get you that doll will you please stop screaming and cooperate?” he said with a sigh.

“Y-Yes...I will,” Ivy whimpered, making sure that he saw her tears as she looked at him.

“Okay then, let’s go get it,” He sighed, not quite believing that he was actually doing this.

Shining, still holding her with his magic, approached the campsite that the other Guards were still securing. They stopped to salute him.

“At ease, did any of you find a doll?”

“Yes sir. I found one over here,” another Unicorn Guard said, holding up Jade with his magic.

“That’s h-her!” Ivy yelled, reaching for it.

“Captan, you captured it?!” another guard said with surprise.

“Yeah, and she said she would cooperate if we came and got her doll, so please hand it over.”

“Yes sir,” the Guard gave the doll to Shining, whom held onto it until they got to the barracks.

Shining placed Ivy with her doll in a special cell, made for holding young fillies and colts. “Be good now, I’ll come by later to question you. You should get some rest,” he said and left her there, with a pair of Guards to keep and eye on her.

“A-Alright. I’ll t-try,” Ivy said meekly. She looked at the Guards, whom both gave her a stern look back. She whimpered a little, then curled up into a little ball and fell asleep on the cot that was thrown in the corner of the small cell, as she tried to hide the fact that she was scared out of her mind.